Coronavirus - Health and preparedness aspects - II

[Bongleur]

I'll repeat this. It takes 78% or 80% ethyl alcohol to kill the tested coronavirus (not Wuhan) in 60 seconds. 70% takes 10 minutes of wet contact. Purel is only 62%.

B.A.C takes 10 minutes are various concentrations.

What I don't know is if its OK to use denatured ethanol on your skin. There are various chemicals used for denaturing. Otherwise, need to pay the 27% Fed tax on drinking alcohol. Or buy a still and some potatoes.

https://www.journalofhospitalinfecti...20)30046-3/pdf

Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agent. Kampf2020

[Gumby]

I think this is a good exercise for all of us in making sure that we are prepared for whatever life may throw at us, and not just financially. Plenty of natural disasters (e.g. - hurricanes) can and have disrupted supply chains for extended periods of time.

For that reason, the young wife and I have for years made it a practice to maintain sufficient supplies to make it through two months or so without the need to resupply. So, for example, suppose we use about one jar of mayonnaise per month. At any point in time, we have one partially used jar in the fridge and two on the shelf in the pantry. When the one in the fridge is empty, we take out one from the pantry and put mayo on our shopping list for the next trip to the grocery. We do that for all our regular comestibles. It helps, of course, that we have plenty of room to store stuff.

If it becomes necessary to stay in our home, I would go out to the grocery at the last minute only for some fresh meat, vegetables, dairy and eggs. But these are just nice to have. We could still survive without.

[explanade]

I looked for wipes but the common Clorox and Lysol ones use quaternary ammonium compounds, which are harsh and have some suspicion of adverse health effects.

There are 70% alcohol wipes but more for medical, not cleaning purposes.

They're all off the shelves in any event.

Local Target has Purell wipes in travel sizes, 15 for $1.50. But they're not alcohol like the Purell bottles.

[LARS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bongleur I'll repeat this. It takes 78% or 80% ethyl alcohol to kill the tested coronavirus (not Wuhan) in 60 seconds. 70% takes 10 minutes of wet contact. Purel is only 62%. B.A.C takes 10 minutes are various concentrations. What I don't know is if its OK to use denatured ethanol on your skin. There are various chemicals used for denaturing. Otherwise, need to pay the 27% Fed tax on drinking alcohol. Or buy a still and some potatoes. https://www.journalofhospitalinfecti...20)30046-3/pdf Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agent. Kampf2020

FWIW, CDC is saying on their webpage first Defense is washing hands; however, use of hand sanitizer with at least 60% is mentioned as well:

"Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty."


https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...treatment.html

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bongleur I'll repeat this. It takes 78% or 80% ethyl alcohol to kill the tested coronavirus (not Wuhan) in 60 seconds. 70% takes 10 minutes of wet contact. Purel is only 62%. B.A.C takes 10 minutes are various concentrations. What I don't know is if its OK to use denatured ethanol on your skin. There are various chemicals used for denaturing. Otherwise, need to pay the 27% Fed tax on drinking alcohol. Or buy a still and some potatoes. https://www.journalofhospitalinfecti...20)30046-3/pdf Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agent. Kampf2020

My plan for disinfecting surfaces is my long time friend bleach.

For my skin, soap & water, and we have couple of bottles of hydrogen peroxide which is great for cuts, and safe to use on skin.

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset My plan for disinfecting surfaces is my long time friend bleach. For my skin, soap & water, and we have couple of bottles of hydrogen peroxide which is great for cuts, and safe to use on skin.

We had a "78% isopropyl alcohol for 60 seconds" report, above, to disable the virus. Do we have any data on hydrogen peroxide (concentration and contact time) to disable the virus?

[copyright1997reloaded]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 You want at least two weeks of shelf stable/frozen food that is hopefully the things you would normally eat. Same for your pets. Any medication you use (whether OTC or prescription) would be a good idea to stock up on. It might not be a bad idea to have on hand any cold/flu medication you would normally take. A box of disposable rubber gloves would be a good idea, as would sufficient stores of anything else you routinely use (toiletries, paper towels, TP, cleaning products, booze, etc.). Hand sanitizer isn't a bad idea although it is unclear how effective it is on the WuFlu. If you can find Hibiclens locally or on line it definitely will kill pretty much anything. If this is all stuff you will buy/use anyway, I would go ahead and get a month's worth. The cost is trivial for most board members and, like I said, you will use it anyway. It doesn't matter whether or not masks work because they are pretty much unobtanium at this point.

Great post - I have all of these. Note that Hibiclens can be found in the local drug store (surgical prep cleaning) and also available in generic/house brands.

I also picked up a couple bottles of Electrolytes today. Fever can cause dehydration.

+1 on the WuFlu name.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational We had a "78% isopropyl alcohol for 60 seconds" report, above, to disable the virus. Do we have any data on hydrogen peroxide (concentration and contact time) to disable the virus?

More than you ever wanted to know about various disinfectants

https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol.../chemical.html

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational We had a "78% isopropyl alcohol for 60 seconds" report, above, to disable the virus. Do we have any data on hydrogen peroxide (concentration and contact time) to disable the virus?

From the chart:

Hydrogen peroxide 0.5% HCoVStrain 229E 1 min

[copyright1997reloaded]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational We had a "78% isopropyl alcohol for 60 seconds" report, above, to disable the virus. Do we have any data on hydrogen peroxide (concentration and contact time) to disable the virus?

Not sure on hydrogen peroxide by itself, but in combination with 5% vinegar it can be a powerful cleaner. Important Note: These are kept in two separate spray bottles, as when combined they create peracetic acid which is corrosive.

So, have two spray bottles - one with 5% vinegar (the kind you find in the grocery store) and one with 3% hydrogen peroxide (again the kind you normally find in the drug store). Spray the surface with one, then the other (order doesn't matter). Let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe dry with cloth. Rinse is optional.

Some more home made cleaners: https://www.onecrazyhouse.com/hydrog...st-everything/

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset From the chart: Hydrogen peroxide 0.5% HCoVStrain 229E 1 min

That's up there in effectiveness with "white lightnin'" (95% ethanol).

The 70% alcohol is 10 minutes! So using 60% hand sanitizer seems like a false sense of security to me.

Found this paper, which has a nice chart of exposure times for various agents:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...95670120300463

But digging deeper, I've discovered that the "Hydrogen peroxide 0.5%" that they tested was really something called "Accel TB" [a 0.5% accelerated H2O2 (AHP)-based disinfectant], so it's got more in it than hydrogen peroxide [https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...6655305005754].

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational That's up there in effectiveness with "white lightnin'" (95% ethanol). The 70% alcohol is 10 minutes! So using 60% hand sanitizer seems like a false sense of security to me.

Yep. Just hit your friendly neighborhood liquor store for a bottle of Everclear grain alcohol (95%).

I find it interesting that Ohio liquor stores aren't allowed to carry Everclear, while the adjoining states are.

[W2R]

Another aspect of coronavirus preparedness: If you are a video gamer, and planning to buy a new console, you might want to check and see if shortages of that console are predicted.

Nintendo is predicting a shortage of their Switch console, starting in April. This is because even though the console is assembled in Vietnam, the parts are manufactured in China. I was going to buy another one, probably in April, but bought it this week instead. Received it yesterday, and it is lovely.

Rumor has it that other major brands of video gaming consoles will experience shortages as well. This could be an unhappy situation for video gamers who might find that their preferred form of escapism is hard to find. Also,

Quote:

Reports have also claimed that Coronavirus-related supply problems are expected to plague the laptop, smartphone and RAM markets.

[donheff]

DW noticed that most of the people in the waiting room of our local urgent care center were wearing masks. That was not previously the case. Makes good sense to me regardless whether Coronavirus spreads here.

[michelek]

Today we were picking up a prescription refill at Sams Pharmacy and noticed the sign advertising all of the vaccines they offer. Of course, we’ve both had the flu shot and got the shingles vaccine crossed off the list- but this time I noticed the Pneumonia Vaccine PV. I asked the pharmacist if she thought that would be helpful in case we were exposed to Coronavirus, she said yes so we both got the shot plus my DH picked up a tetanus shot since he couldn’t recall when his last one was.
Time will tell if the PV is helpful!?!

[Clone]

We were also in Costco today. I was curious about how their bulk pricing on beans and rice compared to the small packages at our typical grocery store. The 25 pound bag of beans was something like $0.79 per pound. The same beans in the grocery store were $0.99 per pound. I expected there to be a larger difference. Then I looked at the canned beans. Costco- $0.79 per can. Local grocery store- normally $0.79 but on sale for $0.59. These are 15.5 oz cans. So $/pound is about the same as dry beans, but of course you are buying some water. My take away is- it would be much easier to just open a can then to portion out and prepare dry beans. Also, a couple cases of beans can be donated to the food pantry before their expiration date, if we don't eat them up.

Plenty of food, plenty of TP, not really all that busy today.

I also swapped messages with a former work college. He has been in China for the past 18 years +/-. (VP of Operations, Fortune 500) He (and his family) are indefinitely relocated to Seattle. Working very remote.

[sengsational]

I wonder if the non ER.org crowd is as worried about low TP inventory as we seem to be here. I bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0743P2KDJ (bidet) and find it's really "the way to go"

So if Sam's runs out of TP, there's still plenty of these available, hehe!

[Clone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational So if Sam's runs out of TP, there's still plenty of these available, hehe!

And just like that, the freshly re-railed thread heads for the ditches...

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational it's really "the way to go"

No sh*#!

[Sunny]

So hopefully this won’t seem too over the top to most people.....

1. Of most interest probably this is a very common sense list of items to get / think about from a virologist in Australia: https://virologydownunder.com/so-you...in-a-pandemic/
2. I’d reiterate, fill your prescriptions too even if Covid doesn’t run rampant in the U.S. since so many ingredients come from elsewhere anyway. Plus it is good to have extra in case you take a long trip.
3. This is an excellent opportunity to review your own emergency plans for whatever ails your neck of the woods (snow storms, earth quakes, tornadoes, hazard spills on the interstate, etc.). Don’t have one? Utah has a great site for preparedness for citizens, most states have something. CDC has suggestions. I’d extend the often suggested 3 days of food out to a week or two though.
4. Note: Water bottles you get from the store last decades despite the date printed on them. There isn’t a need to buy special water. As long as you keep it in a cool place that doesn’t freeze, store purchased water bottles (think Dasani or Aquafina, or better 3 or 5 gallon purified containers) buy once and forget about it. Don’t go buying blue water that is $40 for a 12 pack.
5. In case you don’t have water on hand and have water supply issues (pipes burst to your house in the winter and the snowstorm has road blocked for 3 days) get a Sawyer squeeze off of Amazon or your favorite camping store
6. No need to buy fancy survival food, just have what you eat regularly but more of it. Check the list at the link above. If you want fancy, just get something like Mountain House freeze dried packets that campers use.
7. Don’t panic, don’t horde.